How to dry san pedro skins?

[xctico]

Hi ppl, does anyone know the process used for drying san pedro skins? Should I just stick em in the oven? If so, at what temperature?

[cactus]

Just slice them into thin pieces and leave it on a tray under a light, i wouldnt recommend using the oven as it takes a while and you'll most likely burn them.

[pabel_giboon]

cut the shaft into 10 cm. (4 inches) pieces.
peel it.
save the green parts, cut them in slices, throw the wood core.
put
it on a wire mesh or such, under the sun. in 4-5 days it´ll be dry. if
you cannot put it in the sun, try close to the heater or something.
ground it on teh cofee grinder.
remix the powder with as few honey as you can, make balls of it.
done.Edited by: pabel_giboon

[transit]

San Pedro Cactus Preparation
2004 by anonymous


A number of methods exist for preparing the San Pedro cactus for consumption, ranging from simply eating it freshly harvested to a full chemical extraction of the psychoactive components. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. As the cactus tastes worse than anything imaginable, the various methods attempt to reduce the amount of cactus one must ingest. Furthermore, as the cactus is quite hard on the stomach, the preparation methods also seek to remove the parts of the plant that are not psychoactive.

Background: The Cactus

The cactus has a tough waxy outer skin punctuated every inch or so by a small cluster of spines. Directly under this skin is a layer of deeply green tissue. Underlying this is a layer of white tissue. In the center of the cactus is a woody core. This core is remarkably resistant to breaking and is what allows the cactus to attain great heights.

The San Pedro is thought to produce mescaline as a defense mechanism against various parasites and microorganisms. The highest concentrations are found in the green flesh directly under the skin with smaller amounts present in the associated white tissue that surrounds the core. The skin contains no mescaline. The woody core is thought to contain no mescaline either, but this researcher has not yet verified this.

The cactus is commonly reported to contain very roughly an average of 1% mescaline by dry weight. While it has been widely reported that it is virtually impossible to accurately guess the amount of mescaline present in a given plant, this researcher has found the so called, “wide variance” in concentrations to be in error. While not enough samples have yet been tested to issue statistically significant results, it has been found that each foot of cactus seems to contain very roughly 150 - 200 mg of mescaline. Of course, this is only the roughest of estimates.

However, if one considers that the plant is known to contain roughly 1% mescaline by dry weight, it follows that this hypothesis is a reasonable rule of thumb for plants between 1.5 and 3 inches in diameter, as repeated experiments with drying the plant have consistently yielded an average of 20 to 25 grams. Since 200 mg is 1% of 20 g, the rule of thumb is reasonable. However, it should be remembered that while wide variances in concentrations do not seem to exist to the extent commonly reported, the cactus is a living organism and as such, no two plants will be exactly the same.

Theory of Preparation

As mentioned before, the main goals of preparation are to remove parts of the plant that are hard on the digestive system and that contain no mescaline and to reduce its volume to an amount that is more easily consumed. An additional goal is to retain as much of the mescaline as possible without allowing it to be destroyed by heat or other means. Keeping these ideas in mind during preparation will insure success.

The method that will be covered here involves drying the cactus, grinding it to a powder, and encapsulating it in gelatin capsules. This method seems to be the best in terms of preserving as much of the mescaline as possible and in terms of avoiding the highly disagreeable taste of the plant. Its main drawback is that it requires the user to consume a large number of capsules. However, many people find this infinitely preferable to drinking tea made from the cactus. Furthermore, this method avoids entirely the issues of overheating and breaking down the mescaline that are intrinsic to any of the “wet” preparation methods. Researchers who wish to pursue the chemical extraction of mescaline will need to master the techniques presented here, as many of these methods must be started with the dried cactus. Finally, the cactus powder may be stored almost indefinitely with little or no loss of potency. The liquids must be maintained under refrigeration and do not have an indefinite shelf life.


Needed Supplies

Peeling is a tedious task. However, those who succumb to the lure of avoiding this step, pay the price with extra time spent bent over the toilet bowl. The peel is absolutely indigestible and contains no mescaline whatsoever.


A few tools will be needed for this task:

1. A couple of large cookie sheets.
2. A large knife.
3. A small knife with a long, thin blade.
4. Razor blades
5. .A small pair of diagonal cutting pliers.
6. Newspapers.
7. A pair of hemostats or small needle nose can be useful, but aren’t absolutely required.
8. A coffee grinder or other such device to pulverize the dried material.

Peeling San Pedro

If the cactus is very long, slice it into smaller pieces about a foot long each. This makes it easier to manage.

The first step is to remove the spines from the cactus. The easiest way to do this is to simply snip them off with diagonal cutting pliers. The idea is to remove the entire spine and its root while leaving behind as much of the green tissue as possible.

After all the spines are removed, make a long slice the length of the cactus along each of the lobes and in the valleys between them.

Grasp the cactus firmly and, working from one end, work the small knife between the peel and the underlying green tissue. When you have enough to grasp, gently pull the peel away from the cactus. On occasion, the peel will pull off in one long strip. Most times, however, it simply breaks off after a few inches. When this happens, again start the peel with the knife and pull it away. (Hint: hemostats or a small pair of needle nose pliers are better at grasping the peel than the fingers…)

An alternate method, especially good for small slimy pieces, involves roughly cutting away the peel with a thin layer of green tissue still attached to it. The resulting peel is then scraped completely clean of green tissue.

Each of these methods requires roughly the same amount of time to complete. It generally requires about 30 minutes per foot of cactus to peel the plants.

Once the entire cactus is peeled, It must be diced into tiny pieces so that it will dry rapidly. Large chunks do not dry before mold sets in. Ingestion of moldy cactus is highly discouraged.

Slice the cactus longitudinally away from the core. In the picture above, the cores are the white parts on the left. These can be discarded as they contain little or no mescaline.


Drying

There are a number of means of drying the cactus once it is peeled and cored.
The first method is to simply dice the cactus into as tiny of pieces as possible. Once they are all diced, spread them as thinly as possible on a large cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet in the sun or near a radiant heat source until they are completely dry. The length of time required is dependant on the water content of the cactus and on the humidity. However, a tray with two feet of the plant like this one will normally dry overnight. It is possible to place the cactus in the oven to speed the process. However, one must be careful not to allow the cactus to burn. Experience has shown it to be best to heat the oven to no more than 150° F. If using the oven, watch the cactus closely and remove it immediately when the last of the moisture has evaporated.
The other method is useful when dealing with large amounts of cactus. The peeled and cored cactus is run through a mechanical device to pulverize it and the resulting green slime is poured into a cookie sheet and allowed to either air dry or is dried in the oven.

In this case, a coffee grinder was used because it is much smaller than a blender (which can also be used). The green cactus goop is extremely sticky and difficult to remove from whatever it touches. As the coffee grinder has a very small chamber, it is easier to remove the green slime from it.

If using this method, it is essential to use a non-stick cookie sheet or to spray the sheet with a light misting of cooking oil. As mentioned before, the cactus is extremely sticky in this form and will otherwise be exceedingly difficult to scrape away from the pan once dried. If using the oven, remember to observe all the precautions against burning.

In general, especially when dealing with small amounts of cactus, it is best to use the first method and to completely forgo the use of an oven. Anytime one applies heat to the cactus, one runs the risk of overheating it and destroying the active compounds and while a 150° F oven is not hot enough to break down the mescaline; hot spots can develop in the cactus slime where the temperature would be high enough to oxidize the psychoactives.


Powdering and Encapsulating the Dried Cactus

Once the cactus is dry, scrape it off the pan and put it into a coffee grinder. Grind it into a very fine powder. If no coffee grinder is available, one can use a mortar and pestle, a pepper mill, or even two large smooth stones placed on a piece of newspaper. This researcher, however, has found that a coffee grinder is the most efficient means of pulverizing the material.

Once the material is all powdered, place it into large gelatin capsules. A common drinking straw, sliced to a taper on one end makes an excellent tool for loading the capsules.


Dosage

Dose the capsules based on the amount of whole cactus you started with. A good rule of thumb appears to be that a single large capsule will hold about 1 gram of powdered cactus. As the cactus is generally 1% mescaline, one will want to ingest no fewer than 25 capsules of the dried material to provide a 250 mg dose. This researcher has consumed as many as 52 capsules at once with no ill effects beyond the normal stomach upset intrinsic to this material. The following chart illustrates the standard doses of mescaline.


*Unable to salvage essentially unreadable chart code*



Conclusion

None of the methods shown here are intended to be the final say in cactus preparation. Each researcher will develop his or her own variations to the basic themes illustrated here. The important things to remember are the goals of removing the non-psychoactive material and rendering the plant more easily consumed. By keeping these parameters in mind, one can prepare San Pedro in a manner that produces the desired results with a minimum of unpleasant side effects.

Obviously, this rule of thumb would be completely in error if applied to a large specimen 6” in diameter. However, as the vast majority of the specimens available in the United States are less than 3” in diameter, this general rule has practical value.

Several researchers have reported that the method presented here, instead of reducing nausea, actually increases it. These individuals hypothesize that this is caused by the dried cactus powder “reconstituting itself” in the user’s stomach, completely reassuming its original volume inside the stomach. As this researcher doubted the validity of this hypothesis, it was decided to test the theory by creating a solution of hydrochloric acid to simulate the environment inside the stomach. This solution was placed in a jar along with a small volume of dried San Pedro. The jar was gently heated in a steam bath until it reached 99°F. This temperature was maintained for 2 hours, at which time, the contents of the jar were examined. Far from the massive increase in volume hypothesized by others, the powder did not seem to have significantly increased in volume, nor did it have the slimy, foamy consistency of pulverized fresh cactus. While it is true that the method presented here involves ingesting solids from the plant, this researcher finds it all but impossible to swallow the liquid produced with the more traditional “tea” methods. Absolutely no differences in stomach distress have been observed between the dry and liquid methods.

Table and image of mescaline molecule from The Vaults of Erowid (http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/mesc...aline_dose.shtml).

[transit]

Food dehydrators are helpful – a small cabinet with multiple drawers with mesh bottoms for air flow through, and a heat source at the bottom.

[Dogears]

I would recomend cutting the pedros up into small peices and using a food dehydrator.

[kaniz]

Originally Posted by pabel_giboon

cut the shaft into 10 cm. (4 inches) pieces.
peel it.
save the green parts, cut them in slices, throw the wood core.
put
it on a wire mesh or such, under the sun. in 4-5 days it´ll be dry. if
you cannot put it in the sun, try close to the heater or something.
ground it on teh cofee grinder.
remix the powder with as few honey as you can, make balls of it.
done.

not totaly related, but I'd love to get that image on a t-shirt :P